Roundabout Pre-School

Newsletter

June 2016

Welcome back to Roundabout for the final half term of the academic year. What a speedy year it has been, all the staff and I are in agreement that it has flown by!!! We are extremely sad (but excited of course!) to be saying goodbye to 32 out of our current 47 children in July, so big changes are afoot!

Transition Time

Transition to school will undoubtedly be our biggest priority this half term, for those children who are beginning their school journey in September. At circle time we have been practising lots of the skills that the children will need – saying ‘Good morning’ loudly and clearly to whoever is addressing them, sitting with our legs crossed, backs straight, arms in our laps and with listening ears on!!! These things may seem a little trivial but by exploring these rituals with the children we are regularly giving the children the opportunity to think about and express how they are feeling about starting school. We have several books and powerpoint slideshows about ‘Starting School’ and these will be available to all of our children.

As the half term progresses, we will be giving those children who are moving onto Newlaithes School the opportunity to visit the Reception classroom and outdoor areas by taking them over in small groups. We hope you can understand that this is quite a large undertaking on our part as we need to adhere to the correct staff ratios for out of setting trips, therefore taking at least two members of staff out of our setting. We place great importance on doing this, and we will do this as often as possible. However, these visits are in addition to the visits that you will have already arranged with the school. Please understand that we cannot take responsibility for the delivery, or the care of your child during visits which have been pre-arranged by you and Newlaithes School.

All of our staff team are starting to write their transition reports for the school leavers, (those lucky children who are staying with us for another year will be receiving termly summaries as normal!) Please speak to your key person if you have any concerns over these reports. The reports feature a section for your child to draw or write something to show to their new teacher, as well as a section for you to fill in about your child. The bulk of the report is very similar to the termly summaries that we do for all of our children, and we welcome as much input from you as possible ­- after all you are the people who know your children best. That said, at Roundabout we pride ourselves on knowing our children extremely well as a result of the amount of contact time your child’s key person will have with them, as well as the formative/summative assessments that we make throughout the year. In addition to the transitions reports I ensure that either myself or your child’s key person (usually both) is available to speak to your child’s new teacher when they come into setting to visit. I place great value on having the opportunity to talk to your child’s new teacher; to pass on all we have learned about them and to help them understand their personalities and styles of learning. Please speak to any of the staff team if you have any questions or worries.

Snack-time

Thank you to all those families who have been making a weekly contribution to snack time – snack time has become far more interesting! At Roundabout we rely on snack donations from families to give to our children through the morning session. We would really appreciate it if you could remember to send something in, be it a piece of fruit or vegetable, a block of cheese, dried fruit or ambient goods such as crackers.

Horsforth Gala

Horsforth Gala is getting ever closer! It is taking place in Hall Park on Saturday 25th June. We still needs lots of books and good quality items for the tombola stall. Donations have been a little thin on the ground so far. Horsforth Gala is vital for the longevity of Roundabout as it allows us to raise/maintain people’s awareness of our pre-school throughout the Horsforth area. From next Monday (13th June), we will have a volunteers sign-up sheet out on the communication table at Roundabout. We would like to get as many parents/family members helping out as possible on the day, just for an hour slot each. We will require help from 11am until 5pm – please give up just 1 hour to help, the day is great fun!

End of term Teddy Bear’s Picnic

Our last day of term is Wednesday 27th July and on this day, back by popular demand – is the Teddy Bear’s picnic! We will start the picnic (on the field opposite Newlaithes School) at 11am. We will have some teddy-related games and activities going on, and then we will all eat a picnic lunch together. If your child normally attends a Wednesday session then please send them in with their lunch, as normal, but if you would like to come and join us for our goodbye celebrations then you are most welcome. If your child does not normally attend a Wednesday session then please bring them along, (with a packed lunch), but obviously they must be accompanied by an adult. When the picnic is over – parents and carers are welcome to take their children for an early finish, or the children can come back to the portacabin to finish their day at 3pm as normal.

Spending the Brick build Money

We have been making some really exciting purchases this month, with the proceeds from the brick build. We have some new multicultural costumes and books, which we are in the process of making an interactive display with. In addition to that we have a giant globe which will help the children to visualise what we are talking about when we discuss our planet and the different types of people on it, particularly when we use our new ‘people of the world’ rug for circle times! We also have some brand new jungle animal costumes and a large Djembe African drum. We also invested in some more small world play equipment including a castle and horse drawn carriage. Thank you – these new resources make learning more fun for the children (and the adults!) We still have a little more money to spend.

Places for September

We do still have spaces available for September starters at Roundabout – please spread the word!!! If you know of any families who are looking for a pre-school place in September then please signpost them to our website (www.roundaboutpreschool.org.uk) or tell them to pop into the portacabin for a chat/visit.

Music Week

Music week is happening! We will be thinking all things musical from Monday 11th July – Friday 15th July. During this week we will be exploring all sorts of music from around the world, getting the children involved in all sorts of listening and movement activities and hopefully seeing some music performed live (PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY MUSICAL FAMILY MEMBERS OR FRIENDS WHO WOULD COME IN TO PLAY / TALK TO THE CHLDREN ABOUT THEIR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT). We need your support to make this week work! I will send out a letter a little nearer the time but we thought it might be fun for the children to dress up as their favourite pop star, musical character or even a nursery rhyme character. Get your thinking caps on, if you have any ideas about how to enrich our music week then please speak to a member of the team.

Our Staff

Adele

I am Adele and I am manager at Roundabout. I am currently qualified as a level 5 in childcare and management, my previous experience of 24 years has always been in full day care.
Out of the setting I spend a lot of time with my family outdoors, a hobby of mine is doing cross stitch (needle work).

Carrie

I am Carrie and I am Assistant to the Pre-School Manager at Roundabout. I have one son.
I have worked at Roundabout for over twelve years.

Claire

My name is Claire, I am married with one teenage son. I love animals and I have adopted many! In my free time I like to travel.

Debbie

I am Debbie and I have worked at Roundabout for twelve years.
I have three children and a dog called Skye. I enjoy walking and going to the theatre and concerts.

Annie

My name is Annie. I have two beautiful children. I started at Roundabout in February 2014. I enjoy dancing and being daft.

Sarah

I am married and have two children.
I have worked at Roundabout since 1992.
Out of pre-school I like to bake and cook and watch my son play Rugby on a Sunday morning. I also enjoy knitting (but not very good at it).

Kay

I am Kay and I have a little girl at Roundabout. I have just successfully completed my Level 3 Cache Childcare Course. I enjoy baking, arts and crafts with my children and walking our dog.